Read Between the Lines
by marinapanic
Summary: Next Gen! Follows Rebekah, Al, and Scorp, the "golden trio" of their age, through fifth year. Love, enemies, and new friendships will ensue. Rebekah has liked Scorp forEVER, but all of a sudden he's talking about Rose. And Al has a huge crush on Alice Longbottom... aka his brother James' new girlfriend! How do they handle it? Rated for language and suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey welcome to my new story. So here's the deal, because there may be confusion. I'm writing a trilogy of "series'" right now. One takes place at the time of Tom Riddle, one takes place during Harry's sixth and seventh years, and this one is next gen. I'm in the middle of part 1, and I was having writers block forever, so I decided to do my next gen one, since I've been reading a lot of fics lately. All of the parts tie together, but you do not have to read any of my stories to read this one. Everything that is need to know will be developed, OR you can PM me asking me what's up or something. **

**This will be my only author's note at the beginning, the rest will be at the end! Enjoy. **

Chapter One

"Rebeks, are you going to come over to your uncle Draco's house tonight with me?" My mum poked her head through my bedroom door – an unconvincingly bright smile on her face. I raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the book I was reading about a girl who meets her true love and then has to work extra hard just to get his attention. It was a good read – better than any of my school books – but it was still more boring and less appealing to me than real life.

I thought about her offer. If I went over to Malfoy Manor, I'd get to see Scorpius – aka my long time crush. At the same time, ever since he made a comment about the Weasley girls having a 'cute charm, especially with their gingerness,' I'd kind of hated him. Like a lot. But I hadn't seen him since then and I kind of missed his face. Like a lot.

"Okay, sounds good." I smiled and stood up, assessing myself in the mirror. I was wearing a large 'Slytherin' sweater and yoga pants and green flip flops, and I was way too comfy if I do say so myself. My long blonde hair was messy but still looked alright, and I wasn't wearing any makeup. _Well… Scorp has seen me looking way worse._ "Okay, let's go." I followed mum downstairs to the den, where my father was sitting on his favourite chair reading today's Daily Prophet.

"I'm going with Rebekah to visit Astoria and Scorpius now, Theo." My mum walked over and gave him a small peck on the lips, "You coming?"

My dad, Theodore Nott, smiled up at her, "No, thank you, love – Blaise and Gregory are coming over so we can watch the Falcons versus Tornadoes on the telly."

Weird. My dad was _not _a Quidditch fan – but I guess his friend Gregory was a beater or something when they were in school and liked to pretend he still knew what was up. I don't know.

And then to my horror, my parents shared a big, long kiss right in front of me. And it was getting very heated. So heated, in fact, that I stepped backwards into the fireplace and yelled "Malfoy Manor!"

And then I was face to face with Scorpius Malfoy himself. "Rebekah!" He threw himself at me in a hug, and even though I was mad at him, I reciprocated it. I did like him, afterall. And he was warm, _and_, hugging him took my mind off of what my parents were probably doing right now.

"Hey, Rebekah." I heard the friendly, warm voice of Scorp's mum, Astoria, as she walked into the room. Her light brown hair cascaded down her shoulders as she beamed at me, and gave me a hug as well. "It's so good to see you, dear."

Just as I was about to reply, my mum popped out of the fireplace, and Astoria immediately started talking to her. "Ashlyn! Darling, it's been too long." They hugged each other, and mum was immediately swept over to the dining room, where I presume Draco was waiting for them.

Since she never told me much about her schooldays, I was unsure as to what the relationship between the three of them were. From what I could gather, my mum had been best friends with Astoria's older sister Daphne.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs." Scorp grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the staircase – and I knew where this was going to go. We'd go into his room, he'd ask me why I've been so distant – we'd fight and then we'd make out – because he's a horny fifteen year old boy, and even though I _know_ he's just using me as someone to kiss whenever he needs it, I'd rather have that with him than nothing. That had been our mantra since last Christmas, and just the fact that he's willing to kiss me but hasn't asked me out or anything cements the heartbreaking truth that I don't want to know: he's not interested in me. So I just go along with it and pretend that he's not just using me.

We got into his room – a grey room with green furnishing: true Slytherin pride, and he completely skipped the questioning. The second he closed the door, he pushed me against it and kissed me – hard.

Every single time I kissed Scorp, I felt fireworks go off in my heart. This was no different. I kissed him back fiercely, running my hands through his hair.

And then I was stupid and pulled apart, my thoughts from earlier nagging at me. "Scorp – I don't want you to just use me like this."

He pulled me over to his bed and we sat down side by side. He looked at me, his blue eyes piercing my soul. "What do you mean?"

"You and I both know that we don't feel the same about each other. I like you – and I'm sure you don't like me – at least not in that way." I felt stupid just saying this, to be completely honest. Why was I doing this? I _liked_ kissing Scorp. I guess the romantic fairy-tale loving girl inside of me just hated it.

Scorpius grabbed my hand then, and looked me straight in the eyes. "It's not that I don't like you, Rebekah – because I totally do. You're beautiful, funny, and very sarcastic, a quality which I love in my women. I heard through the grapevine that Al really likes you – and I don't want to mess up my friendship with him or his with you.

Wow. You know you shouldn't be in Slytherin when – wait – "Al? As in Al Potter?" Yeah no. There is no way that Al Potter _really_ likes me. First off, he's my best friend other than Scorp – scratch that – he's just my best friend _in general_. He isn't a complete dick and doesn't mess around with my feelings.

"How many other Al's do you know?" Scorpius teased, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face. I felt butterflies at his touch, but then reminded myself of the task on hand.

"Scorp, there is no way that Albus Potter likes me." I said, "Especially not enough to prevent you from seeing me."

"I have a very reliable source!" He retaliated, "How can you be so sure he doesn't?"

"Uhm… we talk about everything." I said, "And he knows how much I like you. And he has a crush on somebody else."

Though I disapproved of Al's crush on Alice Longbottom (Al and Al, that's a weird combination, _plus_ she's a Hufflepuff… what could be worse?), I knew it existed and I knew that he had liked her since they were children running around the Potters' backyard with toy wands. It's creepy how much I know about this family. I also wouldn't dare tell Scorp about this crush, either. Albus specifically told me to keep it a secret because Scorp would tease him to the end of the world. Alice was pretty, but in a nerdy, good-girl way.

"Well my source is reliable so I believe it." He said confidently. And then something hit me. When they were in third year, Scorpius and Albus both pined for Elisa Wood, a Ravenclaw that was two years older and absolutely uninterested in the lot of them, until it drove their friendship apart. Eventually they got over it and came back to their senses, but at the time neither of them cared about the feelings of the other.

"Who's your source?" I asked, suddenly suspicious. Scorp _was_ a Slytherin through and through, and his bloody noble bullshit excuse made no sense to me.

He suddenly looked very guilty, and muttered something that sounded distinctly like, "His cousin Rose" under his breath.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" I wasn't one for vulgar language (especially when my mother was in the same vicinity, but I was pissed. "You're talking to fucking prissy bitch?"

"Don't talk about her like that!" Scorpius said, "She's really nice."

Rose Weasley was not _really nice_. She was annoying. She was one of the 'good girls' of our year – right along with Alice Longbottom and her stupid Puffy friends. Rose was in Ravenclaw though – according to Al, she inherited all of her mother's smarts, and none of her parents' gut. She had absolutely no sense of adventure and stayed far away from trouble. Her little brother on the other hand, Hugo, who was going to be in his third year of Hogwarts, was pretty cool – he was inspired by his Uncle Harry's heroic story and wanted to be just like him.

But I suddenly had a gut wrenching feeling. And I could feel tears coming towards the surface. I tried to suppress them. "Have you been writing to Rose, Scorp?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Okay confession time: I also hated Rose because I knew she had a crush on Scorpius – and she was actively trying to stop us from seeing each other.

"Yeah, I have." He admitted. Seeing the look on my face he added, "Nothing serious! Just all friendly stuff. But she mentioned that Al hadn't stopped talking about you."

"Do you like Rose?" I asked him straight up. He shrugged.

"She's a cool girl – she's down to earth, she's really pretty – but I don't know…"

"You were going to use her as an excuse why you haven't asked me out." I said, "I think that means you like her."

"I'm using Al as my excuse, for the record."

I looked at him, "No, you're not. Remember Elisa? Al didn't stop you there."

He grinned at me sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Rebeks. I love you though. I do. And I love kissing you – I wanted to kiss you again since that awkward dare in third year – and I finally did and it's great. I just… I don't know what I want."

He wrapped his arm around me, and I leaned into him. I was at a loss. I'd liked this boy forever, and here he was, basically telling me that he felt the same, but he didn't want to close off his options. Okay – he didn't say that much, but he might as well have.

We sat there like that for a while, before I finally stood up. He followed suit, and I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him on the cheek. "I can't stay mad at you – but I'm annoyed that you didn't tell me you were talking to Weasley." I said, truly happy to know that he wasn't just having makeout sessions with me solely to let off some steam. He actually liked them. That was a step up.

He didn't apologize, which didn't surprise me, but he kissed me again, slowly, which did. I kissed him back, almost forgetting how upset I had just been, and simultaneously upset that I was going along with this. That I was letting him kiss me even though I knew the truth.

Eventually, mum came up and knocked on the door, barged in, and cleared her throat, and I knew it was time to go.

"What are your plans for the rest of the holiday?" Scorp asked me, walking me over to his bedroom door. I shrugged.

"Going to see Al tomorrow, and then summer's basically over, isn't it?" I remembered something, "You don't know who got Prefect, do you?"

He looked down, "I got it, and so did Amelia Parkinson."

I heard my mum snort from the doorway. "What's Pansy's pug-nosed daughter up to, anyways?" I held back laughter, despite being slightly jealous. Amelia was a nice girl, and she was one of the only girls in Slytherin that wasn't pining for Scorp or Al. But she got to be Prefect with Scorp, so naturally I was a bit jealous.

"Shh, mum." I said, "Amels is nice. Let's go now please." I looked back, "Write me tomorrow?"

"Will do, goodnight."

Mum didn't ask about the kissing she walked in on, although she had an amused smirk as we stepped out of our fireplace. I could hear the sound of Quidditch coming from the basement rec-room, and then she finally spoke. "When I was your age, I was infatuated by Draco Malfoy." She said.

Usually, her stories bored me – but mum almost never spoke of her Hogwarts days. I was intrigued and curious as to what she was like when she was at school. "Really? I asked, "And how did that turn out?"

Obviously, not well; seeing as she is married to my father, and he has married a different woman.

"In our sixth year, we realized our feelings for each other – and we didn't really have a relationship. We wanted to keep it hidden… because of the Dark Lord." She looked pained as she said this, and I had to kick myself in the face. She never spoke of her past much, but I always forgot that there was probably a very good reason. "After the war was over, we wanted to be together but it was hard. We tried, we were together for nearly five years. Eventually, your father came back into my life – he'd been friends with the both of us at school – and unlike Draco, he had a stable job, his dad was Death Eater but he wasn't. He was unaffected by the war, for the most part. And I had to do what was going to make me happy, and that was Theo."

I sat there in silence. That literally made no sense to me. Why would she leave a man she'd loved so much and been through so much with for somebody else? No sense. She went on, "It's just surreal to see you with Scorp like that – it brings back memories."

"Well we're not together or anything." I said, "He's just having some fun while he decides what he wants with his life." My eyes fell on the faded mark on her arm. It was so faded now that I could hardly tell anything was there, but it was still dark enough to see. She called it the Dark Mark, and she often wore long sleeves to cover it up. Sensing me looking, she pulled the sleeves of her sweater down.

"Sounds like he's using you. Be careful, sweetie. I don't want to see you hurt."

"Don't worry. I'm being careful. He might think he's a cunning little Slytherin… but nobody in that house is more Slytherin than I am."

"That's right, Beks," Mum said, wrapping me up in a hug, "You're a direct descendant of Slytherin – and related to some of the most powerful wizards of all time. Never forget that."

I wouldn't. And that was the problem: nobody else would either.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Nothing makes me happier than going over to the Potter house during my vacations. It was a complete breath of fresh air. Don't get me wrong. I love my parents. They love me, they're great, and we eat well. Just – the dynamic here is so different.

The second I popped out of the fireplace, I was pulled into a giant hug. Of course. The youngest Potter was the most excited to see me. "Rebekah! Thank god you're here – Al and James have been extra awful this summer."

"What do you mean… have they been mistreating you?"

Lily blushed, not quite meeting my eyes. Before she could answer, however, a much deeper voice did. "I'd never mistreat my angel – I just want to stop Scamander from having the chance to."

I turned and had to do a double take. James Potter must've grown a whole foot since the end of May. "Hey Nott." He added as an afterthought, "having a nice summer?"

"Call me Rebekah." I told him for what must have been the thousandth time, "Nott is my father's name."

He shrugged, "Okay, _Rebekah_. You looking forward to school?"

"Not quite." I said, school really not being my favourite thing, "I can't wait to get away from home though."

He nodded, "I hear you," he said, "Louis and Rose both made Prefect of Ravenclaw. I haven't heard the end of it from Aunt Hermione, and my mum is getting so annoyed she's on both mine and Al's case for not making it."

"What does your dad think?"

James smiled, "He wasn't a Prefect either. He says its better that way."

I saw Mr. Potter come into the room and smiled. "Hey, Rebekah." He said, "Having a nice summer?"

"Always." I smiled back, shaking his hand. Harry Potter somewhat intimidated me, even though mum said he was just a regular guy. She had a great amount of respect for him: it was because of him that she and Draco were able to escape arrest after the war ended. "How are you, sir?"

"Just wonderful." He said, "It's been a very dry spell at work, so I've been able to spend some time at home."

He was the Head Auror at the Ministry of Magic, and basically every young wizard's idol. "I'm happy to hear that." I said, "What's Al up to?"

"He's in his room, I think." Harry replied, "He's been sulking lately – I don't know why." I found my eyes wander over to James, who had a guilty look on his face. "Can I go up and see him?"

"By all means." Harry said, and I shot him a quick smile before slipping past him and walking up the stairs.

The second floor of the Potter house was just as nice as the first. For all the money they had, it wasn't overdone like Malfoy Manor or my house.

Al's bedroom was at the very end of the hall. I knocked and quickly walked in. He was sitting on his bed, reading a potions book. Al was like… ridiculously good at Potions.

"Hey." I said, sitting down next to him and sliding down so we were parallel to each other, "What's up?"

He looked at me, his eyes seriously lacking… _something_. "James has a new girlfriend."

Okay… that wasn't news to me. James dated a lot of girls. He was popular and good looking – it didn't shock me. "Okay…"

"It's Alice."

Oh. Yeah, I could see Al being pissed about that. It was common knowledge in his family that he liked Alice. I immediately cuddled myself up against him. "I'm so sorry." I said as he wrapped his arms around me, "That must be awful."

He pulled me close to him, and then muttered, "I wanted to let you know that Rose is going after Scorp hard – they've been writing."

I pulled away to look him in the eyes. "I know, I found that out last night." I leaned my head against his chest, "I hate your stupid cousin."

"I hate my stupid brother."

"I know." I said quietly. We lay like that for a while. Al was actually so comfy – I loved cuddling with him. It was something we'd done since I first met him… and neither of us were into the other, which was nice. It was a change.

We talked for a while about school, Scorp, how stupid James is, OWLS, and James. And then what did Al do? The fucker fell asleep on me. Nice.

I got up so he could sleep comfortably, and slipped out of his room, shutting the door gently behind me. I turned and stifled a scream.

James was standing directly behind me. "How's he doing?"

I suppressed my urge to whack him in the face. "How do you think he's doing you asshole?"

"Shh, come over here." He gestured to his room, which I had never been in surprisingly. I followed him over, and was shocked to see a very plain room. Knowing James, I was expecting hardcore Gryffindor decorations. He had a large bed, a desk with a chair at it, and a bathroom attached on the right. A large wardrobe and a dresser, and that was about it.

He sat on his bed, and I sat down at the chair on his desk. Almost immediately, I exploded. "You _know _that Al like Alice… how could you do this to him?"

"You don't understand the full story." James said, "And I don't really want to explain it to you right now."

"Well why bring me in here at all?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You've been friends with Scorp and Al for years – and Lily absolutely loves you. I guess I want to see what all the hype is about."

I raised an eyebrow. Really? I guess it was kind of nice. I barely knew James. I knew his reputation, which was cocky Quidditch beater with an attitude, who liked school as much as me. I didn't really know him though. "Okay… but I must warn you, I'm probably not as exciting as the 'hype' makes me seem."

"Is it true what they say about your family? My dad won't answer, but I've heard things… I want to know for myself."

"My great grandmother had a baby – Rabastan Lestrange. He had a daughter - my mother – and she had a baby. Me." It wasn't that hard to explain, really.

"Who is your great grandfather?"

"I don't know his name. Ramekin Lestrange, I think?"

"Who is your biological great grandfather?"

I stared at James for a long time. I knew where he was going with this. "Tom Marvolo Riddle." I said slowly, not breaking eye contact.

He nodded slowly, "That's what I've heard." He said, "It doesn't change my opinion of you anyways, I still think you're a snotty little Slytherin – but at least I know the truth."

Snotty little Slytherin? Ouch. "Did you make Captain this year, James?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He didn't, but his cousin Fred did. Ouch.

"No," He said, "Freddie did. But that's awesome. I support him one hundred percent." I could tell he was very upset about it, even if he didn't tell me. I didn't expect him to.

"That's good. This year, Flint is graduating at the end… so I think Al and Scorp are both vying for the position next year."

"Doesn't matter," James teased, "The Slytherin team doesn't stand a chance against us anyways."

"Well if _we _don't beat you, I hope the 'Claw's do." I smiled, "As long as you don't let yourself get beat by those Puffs."

"Ally is a Puff, let me remind you."

Oh yeah. James' "girlfriend."

"Doesn't change their profile in my eyes."

He snickered, "Yeah, okay. I'll give that one to you."

I smiled, looking at the clock on his wall. "Well… this has been surprisingly fun." I said, "I have to be home for dinner in about twenty minutes. It was nice talking to you, James."

I meant that sincerely. He acted like a huge jerk at school but talking to him had been quite nice. "See you on the train in a couple days?" He asked, standing up to open the door. I nodded, and he grinned, "I'll walk you out, since Al fell asleep on you."

"Thanks."

We went downstairs in silence, and I gave Al's mum Ginny a hug, waved goodbye to Harry, and gave Lily a huge hug with the promise of seeing her in two days, September 1st, on the train.

"Thanks again, James." I said with a smile as I grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder.

"Anytime." He smirked, "See ya, Rebekah."

And then he spun out of my sight.


End file.
